FORESTRY IN WAIRARAPA

Wahine in Forestry

The New Zealand forest sectors answer to a long standing challenge.

The question of how to address the gender inequality that exists in our forest sector is not a new one, you only must read, “A Path Through The Trees”, the Mary Sutherland biography of the ÿ rst woman forester in New Zealand to understand that change is a slow process.

Mary graduated in 1916 from the University College of North Wales, Bangor and encountered many tensions and prejudices throughout her extensive career in the New Zealand Forest Service which are documented in this book and sounded eerily familiar to me. The ÿ rst woman to graduate the School of Forestry at Canterbury was in 1974, almost sixty years after Mary Sutherland arrived in New Zealand and many of her documented aspirations will also be recognisable to us today. How to improve perceptions of forestry in the public, getting forest education into schools and the minds of the next generation and improving the training and education for all forest workers. Sound familiar?

Wahine in Forestry is a national forestry women’s group formed by the eight Wood Councils of New Zealand that seeks to address the lack of a female perspective in our sector.

There is great value in ensuring women are exposed to and have access to all avenues of the forest sector and in the future, this should lead to a more sustainable forestry community.

Today we claim only 18% females in our forestry workforce, while the average in the primary sector is 23%, and you can count on one hand the number of women at any leadership levels in our organisations.

We want to increase professional participation for women to expand the opportunities and think about our forests in new ways. There is great value in ensuring women are exposed to and have access to all avenues of the forest sector and in the future, this should lead to a more sustainable forestry community.

We are starting this process by exposing the female students at the New Zealand School of Forestry at Canterbury University to as many of our amazing women working in forestry as possible.

Our ÿ rst gathering in Christchurch last year saw four wonderful women speakers address thirty female students about their journey into forestry and what their careers mean to them providing hilarious stories and inspiration.

We plan to keep this group of students engaged this year by providing evenings and weekends for networking and to showcase women in all levels and positions in the forest sector, provide role models, mentors and solutions to the unique challenges that face women by bringing us together and supporting each other. We also might just have some fun along the way.

We aim to introduce more women to forestry, open their eyes to the opportunities that exist and retain this critical portion of our workforce. Networks are vital to provide a sense of belonging, and that’s what Wahine in Forestry strives for, a mycorrhizal fungal network for others along with safe and welcoming workplaces fostering connection and connectivity.

The challenges facing our forests and workforces are diverse and there is need for more diverse perspectives to help ensure the health and future of our sector. We cannot solve all our problems, but wouldn’t it be great if we could participate in designing the solutions?

How many forestry companies are run by women in New Zealand? How many lead our

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governance boards, associations and institutes? Together we can create that room for creative problem solving.

What has been pleasing to see is the support and re° ection from the young men currently in the School of Forestry and our forestry men for this initiative. These students will be our friends and coworkers in the future, it is satisfying that they are becoming aware of their own, and others, attitudes and noticing what they can do to encourage and advocate for inclusion and diversity in our places of work.

With the support of forestry companies PF Olsens, Forest360, Summit Forests and the Wood Councils we are looking forward to the ÿ rst Woman’s Forest Conference at Hanmer Springs in March. Details are on wahine@ wahineinforestry.co.nz